Intermittent drivers-side low-beam outage. (Oh joy...)

[JamesAustin]

Last week, I started up MaLColM (my 2011 E91) and got a chime and an orange low beam icon, and sure enough, my drivers-side slow beam was out. So I started thinking about whether I had a chance of getting into Saturday's DIY, and whether I should just go ahead and upgrade all my front bulbs. And then, a couple of days later, the light came back on and has been fine ever since.

Oh joy, everybody's favorite, an intermittent electrical fault.

Any advice on where to check the next time the bulb goes out (besides the bulb)?

[JamesAustin]

Sunday afternoon, I got the chimes and headlight symbol again, and quickly verified that BOTH low beams were out. I checked all three possible fuses and they were all fine. Knowing there was no possible way both bulbs could burn out at the exact same time I decided my intermittent was back and brought a friend.

I called my regular indy shop (shout out to Scandinavian Import Servicenter!) but they were booked up until the 18th. They did say, though, that sometimes halogen bulbs really CAN go out and come back if the filament is doing something strange.

So I stopped off at BMW of Rockville, who took the car right in and came back a few minutes later to tell me that... both bulbs were burned out at the same time...

They charged me for the bulbs but not for the labor. So kudos to BMW of Rockville for good service at short notice. (And a tasty free bagel.)

Now if I could just get the Twilight Zone theme music out of my head. Seriously, who ever had two separate halogen bulbs on opposite sides of the car both blow at the same moment? Though, to be fair, one did look worse than the other...